Chop Sticks

I can't remember how long I've had a pair of chop sticks in my tool box and I'm sure their origin was more related to having a spare set in case they didn't come with the take out order. It seems they have become a staple.

The tool that best fits is often the one that is closest to hand but there on times when the chopstick is perfection. If you have ever had to clean out a tube or hole that you really didn't want to gouge up the chop stick is perfectly gentle. It has often made a great quickie TDC tool. You who have retrieved something from a cylinder know its much better to use a relatively benign material.
Thanks to its extraordinary strength thanks to the miracle of bamboo the chop stick can serve as a scratch free punch or lever. The list goes on.

So, before you chuck that set in the trash stash it in your box, preferably in your "scan for a solution" drawer. You'll be surprised how useful they are.

I had to learn to use chopsticks when I was a busboy in a Chinese restaurant in high school. (Free food from the chefs, but no forks allowed). I have been using them for almost 30 years, and I still am not doing it right. I just don't have the dexterity. Great tip on the toolbox though, I will have to throw a set in there!

I used a wooden dowel(much like a chop stick), with the end reshaped to match the profile of a carb needle to polish the seats on small engine carbs when they were pitted up and leaking. If they were real bad, a little fine valve grind compound would clean them up like new.